First Ride On Kallie!

Today Anna and I lugged out saddle racks, saddles, hackamores, halters, 12’ lead, 22’ lead, a tarp, the three green barrels, yellow exercise ball and riding helmets out to the field where it was nice and snowy and ice free! I played with Kallie first, she was really good considering it had been awhile since I had played with her due to the lovely weekly storms, ice and frigid temperatures.

We played through out Seven Games and she wasn’t sticky at all, she was right on the ball (almost literally too as she didn’t mind touching the big yellow exercise ball with her nose). I had no real intention of riding her today, I just brought the gear out to exposé her to it again. She was very accepting of the pad, and then the saddle and passed the Pre-Ride checks with flying colors that I felt confident and safe getting on her.


The pep talk before getting on

I flapped the stirrups a bit, and put weight into the stirrups with my hands, tapped the seat of the saddle all in preparation for getting on. I then put my foot in the stirrup, let he feel the weight, did three tiny hops then stood up in the stirrup. I kept my eyes on her left eye as I did so and instantly began rubbing her, she licked and chewed. I got down and repeated this a few more times before finally swinging my leg up and over. Once I was in the saddle I just sat there, not asking her to do anything and rubbed. I rubbed until she had a huge lick and chew session.


And I’m in the saddle!


My relaxed girl.

Then I got off, offered her some treats and rubbed her all over and she was soon yawning. I was very happy with my first “ride” on my girl!!

Mounting Bareback

Today was a day to try something different. I wanted to try something new and fun with Blue. After flipping through my Savvy Club DVDs I got an idea to teach Blue how to assist me when mounting bareback thanks to Linda’s segment with Remmer on the October 2008 DVD. On the DVD it said that it was for Levels 3 and 4. But I figured we could try it and at least start working on the different steps to build up to it.

We started with the Friendly Game, rubber him all over, from the tips of his ears to the tips of his hooves. I spent some extra time scratching his butt, and belly, got him to lift his tail, and then lower it, and lift it again. I then tested him to see how well his Porcupine Game was and he was spot on. He had no hesitation moving away form the pressure at pretty much the thought, is there such thing as a Phase -1??

In the past I have gotten him to lower his head with pressure on the poll, or by slowly clasping my hand around the lead line and putting an ounce of pressure on the rope downward. So none of that was new to him, just refreshed him a bit on it then went on to teaching him to raise his head when I tapped his jaw bone or clucked. He quickly caught on and was lowering his head so that his nose was practically touching the ground and lifting right on queue.

I then got him comfortable with me jumped up and down by his side while his head was lowered; he was a bit hesitant at first but quickly got over the worry. So then I started putting a little bit of weight on his neck. He was progressing rather quickly and I was pretty impressed with my boy at this point seeing as we had only been playing for 5 minutes or so. I then got him to lower his head way down, hopped up so my chest was over his neck, he lifted his neck on queue and slid me back and I was mounted!!

I of course rubbed him all over and gave him some good treats for being such a good boy! He was just perfect! I got down, played some friendly game and then asked him to do it again. As soon as I was situational (he didn’t lower he head until I was on, giving me some extra support to swing myself up on him fully seeing as I was weighted down with all my snow gear!). As soon as I was on his back he turned his head around looking for his treat! I think he really enjoyed the session. It was something new and kept his mind engaged and attentive the whole time.

I really need to come up with more challenging and new tasks for my Left Brain Extrovert! Any suggestions??

Pedicure For Chance

It was time for Chance to get his pedicure once again, I asked Anna to be there to help me because he typically will jerk his feet away form me and that makes it very difficult to get much done. But today he was a different horse; he would eagerly pick up his feet and hold it still so that I could trim easily. I was pretty stoked about him being so good!! I could even rest his front feet on the hoof stand and he stood there quietly and contently while I trimmed. Finally some more progress with my boy!

Kallie Meets the Saddle

Today I introduced Kallie to the saddle; we played through the Seven Games with her being “naked”. She was very responsive and would move away from the slightest amount of pressure, everything was a Phase 1, Porcupine, Driving, Yo-Yo, just perfect. She would even change direction at the trot when Circling easily as I stepped back, switched the hands my carrot stick and rope were in and pointed in the new direction. She easily made the transition. She would squeeze between me and the fence, go sideways easily, she was doing just great!

So I put the saddle pad on next and we played all of the Games over again, she was quite, calm and Left Brained. Licking and chewing as we went. Once I was content with her response to all Seven Games with the saddle pad I brought out the saddle. As soon as I had it off the fence she was putting her nose on it, not worried about it at all. But I still walked away from her with it supported on my hip, she eagerly followed. I did this for a little while before I started to swing it around, getting her used to the motion of it and the sound of the creaking leather and the jingle of the buckles.

Next I saddled her with a hug, she tensed slightly but I just rubbed her neck and she was licking and chewing in no time. I took the saddle off, and walked away from her again with it. Approached her with the saddle and saddled her with a hug again. She had a lot less tension this time, so I did it a few more times until she was at the point of licking and chewing before the saddle was even on her back.

I rubbed her stomach and reached under her belly for the cinch, I cinched it up very loosely; you could tell she was a bit worried as there was the slightest pressure from the girth on her. So I went slowly, lots of rubbing and talking to her and she began to relax. I disengaged her hind quarters and began playing the games with her. She didn’t seem to care about the saddle on her back one single bit. She stuck to me like glue and almost seemed to be even more responsive. It proved to be a bit hard to get some pictures of her at first because she wanted to be right with me, so I had to drive her back with the driving game and managed to snap a few shots!


Licking and Chewing.


Pretty girl with her saddle.

Kallie Meets Saddle Pad

Today was Kallie’s day, before the session she was eagerly coming up to me in the field and sniffing around for treats, a pretty good start to the day. She got a bit apprehensive when the halter came up but quickly got over that and we were off to the round pen to play. We always start off with lots of friendly game, this time I had the carrot stick and savvy string with me so I rubbed her all over with it, and she was a bit sensitive around her legs but soon learnt to relax. Kallie was also a bit nervous about me tossing the rope 12’ rope or savvy string over her back she felt like she needed to move her feet at first. But it didn’t take her long to catch on that she could just stand still I wasn’t going to hurt her with it.


Kallie before our session.

We worked our way through the games in no particular order, I tried a few new things at the Circling Game, like changing direction without stopped and while maintaining gate and she was wonderful. All I would do it take a few steps back, switch hands with my rope, point in the direction I wanted her to go in and off she would go. We did this quite a few times before moving onto the Sideways Game which she was a bit sticky with at first and then finally the Squeeze Game which she was great with.


Relaxing after some Yo-Yo game.


Trotting very nicely on a circle.

Next I brought out the western saddle pad. I picked it up off the saddle rack and walked away from her with it, she easily followed and I could feel her quickly closing the gap between us even though I had left her the most of the rope incase she wanted some drift. When I stopped she willingly put her nose on it. Next I rubbed her body all over with it playing the Friendly Game; she was relaxed and perfectly fine with it. Next I made the motions to put it on her back, she didn’t flinch.


Calm and Cool.

Finally I put it on her back and rubber her withers with my hand. She was relaxed, thinking and blinking. Needles to say I was very happy with my girl. I then got her to move her feet with it on, yielding her HQ first, then her FQ, backing up, coming forward, circles, squeeze and even a bit of sideways. She was excellent! Not a worry at all, licking and chewing, leg cocked and relaxed! I didn’t have enough time to put the saddle on her and didn’t want to rush things so that was where we ended for the day.

Wrong Side Of The Corral

After the bit of snow we had the night before it provided us with the perfect footing for the round pen so I could play with my boy Blue. He eagerly shoved his nose into the halter and we were off to the round pen. Anna had the new Level 1-2 Assessment sheet with her so we followed through the steps and tasks. At first Blue was great, but as soon as it came to the Circling Game it was like I had a horse I didn’t know anymore. I think he must have woken up on the wrong side of the corral and it was as if he had completely forgotten how to play the Circling Game.

Now it might be because he had gotten himself all worked up about backing through the gate before hand. It was my fault and I should have known that he couldn’t have seen it easily; the poles are white as is the tape used to make up our temporary round pen so I think he thought that the gate was still up and didn’t want to back into it. He kept trying to run past or he would really swing his butt and back up alongside the round pen face rather then go through the opening. It took many tries for us to get him to actually go through it, and even though he licked and chewed and relaxed he still wasn’t quite himself.

For the Circling Game his Send, Allow and Bring Back were great – but when I asked him to change direction while maintaining gate – but no sir was that going to happen, rather then following my direction and lead Blue was trying to run into the pressure and trying to keep going the same direction. It took many tries of this as well until we had two direction changes that were flawless.

That was enough of the Circling Game for one day that was for sure; we then went on to the Squeeze and Sideways Games. And according to the Level 1-2 Assessment sheet Blue would be able to pass both levels for the Online and Liberty work. Granted we need to work more on the change of direction and the sideways at liberty but I think that there will be no issue with those things when he head is with me and on a day he woke up on the right side of the corral!

Step Forward

Finally a nice day, and I decided to have a session with Chance as it has been far too long and I want to try to work with the horses more. Hopefully that will be a reality and not just a hope!

Chance was in a frisky mood at first, playing with Lexi and Dessi so we played the catching game first, he quickly let me catch him. Halter went on and off to the round pen we went. I started with lots of friendly game with the rope as I had big plans for said rope later on. I had the 12’ rope on his halter as well as a second 12’ rope that I tossed over his back, and then would just lay it on his back, letting it rest there or dangle. After lots of Friendly Game we then went through the rest of our games with the rope just laying across his back.

Then I took the rope and hooked it onto itself and slowly tightened it to simulate cinching up him. He got a little tense at first but was soon licking and chewing. We then played the games with the rope cinch around his belly. He was really calm and quiet, there was just one part where I think he felt a bit trapped and did two tiny little bounces (no where near the bucking and rearing I’ve seen him do) then promptly stopped, licked and chewed and let out a huge sigh.

I then put a saddle pad on, with the cinch over the pad and slowly tightened it again and we played out games. He was doing really good with all that, okay if I were to tug on the cinch and make it tighter, and even okay if he stepped on the long part of the rope which was on the ground and had it tighten on his own. He would use his brain and just back off the rope rather then panic.

So we ended it there, he was such a good boy!!

Session With My Boys

Finally I had the perfect combination of good weather and free time during daylight hours so I took full advantage of the opportunity to have a play session with Chance and Blue.

First up was Chance, he eagerly stuck his nose into the halter and followed me out of the paddock up to the round pen. We played lots of Friendly Game with my hands as well as the carrot stick and savvy string; he was licking and chewing in no time. We then proceeded through the rest of the games online at first he was a bit sticky but it wasn’t long until he was showing off how responsive he could be. I took the lead line off and sent him out on a circle, we worked on changing direction with a turn on the haunches and having him stop and turn towards and face without coming in and then being sent off in the opposite direction. We also worked on change of gate, maintaining gate and going backwards around the round pen.

Next I changed things up and sat on a barrel that was off to one side of the paddock. Chance wasn’t too sure what to think about this at first, so I just ignored him and looked anywhere at him, once he stopped pacing the far side of the round pen, and turned and faced towards me and began to paw at the ground. I let him do this a short time before I brought him in as if he were online and we were playing the Yo-Yo game, he eagerly came forward. He let out a big sigh, began licking and chewing and allowed me to rub his head and neck. I then backed him away from me and sent him out on the circle. He wasn’t to eager to come around behind the barrel so I made it my idea to change direction along the rail and soon he was more than willing to go around behind the barrel.

He stood next to me and I rubbed his back and withers, he was a bit tense at first but soon began to relax. I then got off the barrel and we worked on backing him shoulder to shoulder, as well as turns towards and away from me. I didn’t even have to touch him once with the carrot stick he was very responsive and light. Letting out another big sigh and a big session of licking and chewing I figured that that was a good place to end the session.

Now it was Blues turn, he was already waiting at the gate for me, I haltered him and then lead him up to the round pen. We started with the Friendly Game as always then we went right to playing the other 6 games at Liberty. Blue was awesome, so light and responsive and eager to try what I asked. We then worked on the Circling game a fair bit, he had quite a bit of play with him so I used it to turn and spin him and you could tell he was having a blast, granted he had a few of his left brain confident and dominant head tosses. But I just kept spicing things up for him challenging him around every corner.

We had a blast, I was even cutting him much like another horse would cut cattle and he thought that that was a fun game, moving his feet quickly, hiding his hiney, spinning, twisting and turning. He looked great!! Needless to say I was very happy with my boys behaviour today!

A Snowy Start

Well we had a very interesting start to our New Year, a big blizzard hit us hard later that evening, probably around 10:30pm-11:30pm. In a short amount of time there was quite a bit of snow accumulating not to mention the amount of snow that was being blown around the property. Luckily the worst of the weather seemed to be blocked by the trees behind our house and then hit down on the road, so it kind of skipped right over us. After feeding that night I gave Kallie her booster and she was as good as gold. Can hardly believe she is the same horse.

The next morning I plowed through the drifts that were anywhere from one foot to three feet deep. Luckily the hay wasn’t drifted in, and I was able to feed the horses without too much difficulty. There was little snow down in the paddock around the trees and the shelter, which was great! I don’t think the horses would have enjoyed plowing through big snow banks to get to their hay!

That day they did get a bit frisky and played and ran around the field some, not venturing too far from the trees though because it was still blowing like crazy out there but they seemed to be enjoying the blizzard at least. They later had some entertainment and all stood and watched as one of our neighbors tried to get down the road in his truck and ended up pretty stuck!

We didn’t end up getting plowed out until early Saturday morning; I had to hitch a ride down the road on a neighbors snowmobile!